Starlight
by IcyKeys-Love
Summary: The moon and stars were turning the grass into silver, and something, maybe the night air, urges Lucy to share some secrets she otherwise wouldn't have. Graylu week, day two- Night


Mizu-chan- Okay, so, I think I actually did a pretty good job on this one. Not saying it's great, but it's definitely better than the others by far. (I think.) Anyways, enjoy!

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><p>Night<p>

I felt myself nodding off a bit, and I pinched my cheek. I sat up and sighed. The grass was soft beneath my hands and my bare legs, and Gray's arm pressed against mine with a comforting warmth. He chuckled at my attempts to stay awake.

"You can go to sleep you know. I'll carry you back." He said quietly. I shook my head and yawned.

"No, I don't wanna make you do that... I can stay awake." I readjusted myself so I was sitting with my back to his side, and I stared up into the quickly darkening sky. The sun had just gone down over the mountains, and the air was starting to become cooler. I wasn't too much of a fan of the summer's heat, so I was glad for the drop in temperature. I knew Gray was too.

Neither of us spoke for a little while longer. The only sound was our breaths and the occasional shuffle of our feet as we moved ourselves into a more comfortable position. Stars had just begun to pop out of the darkness when Gray finally spoke.

"Hey, Lucy?" He asked, startling me out of my sleepiness. I turned my head to look at him.

"Yeah?" I responded. He looked at me and said,

"Why do you think people are afraid of the dark?" His question was met by silence. I opened my mouth to say something smart, like I would've done for almost any other question like this, but nothing came out. I didn't really have an answer as to why other people are afraid of the dark.

"I don't know about other people, but I know why I'm afraid of the dark. Or, why I used to be." I twisted my gaze away and looked up to the stars.

"I was afraid of the dark because of the things I couldn't see. It reminded me of my past. It held endless possibilities that some of which weren't very nice to think about." I giggled halfheartedly.

"Up until I was nine, it was normal stuff. Y'know, monsters under the bed, that sort of thing." I turned my eyes to the ground to stare at my bare feet.

"Then... then my mom died. And I started to have bad dreams. Things like my father dying and me being left alone in the mansion." I felt Gray's arm snake around my shoulders and I pressed into him.

"But then my dad made it clear that he didn't really want me, and those last nightmares were replaced by ones of being sold, or of being abandoned by him. When I heard a creak outside the door, I thought he had sent one of the servants to take me away somewhere to abandon me. Those continued until I was fifteen when I finally ran away."

"Fifteen!?" Gray interrupted, seemingly shocked. I watched him quizzically.

"Y-yeah... you knew I had run away from home, right?" He nodded. I continued on my small investigation.

"And you knew I was seventeen, right?" Even in the extremely dim moonlight, I saw his face darken and he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"W-well, you always seemed so mature... I kinda thought you were older... maybe even older than I was..." I smacked him upside the head.

"I do NOT look THAT old!"

"It's not a bad thing!"

We stared at each other for a moment before laughing. Gray ruffled my hair and muttered,

"Go on." I cocked my head.

"You're actually interested?"

He looked away, blushing.

"Everything you say is interesting..." I felt my face heat up.

"Wha-what?"

"Well, except when you're talking about when you need money, or when you talk about how much we all annoy you."

That remark earned him another smack. While he was rubbing his head, I finished my story.

"After I ran away, I started having even worse nightmares, which caused me to be afraid of the dark. A few times I had to sleep outside, and I was afraid... you know..." I gulped, and thankfully, Gray seemed to get it, so I moved on.

"I was also kind of scared that my father was going to try to find me, and bring me back. Before I left, he was talking about me getting married, which was part of the reason I left. I didn't wanna be married! But anyways, every dark place intimidated me. I was convinced that someone was going to grab me and take me back to my father. But then..." I smiled.

"Then I came to Fairy Tail, and eventually, everything started to go away... then of course, he _did _try to kidnap me." I had nearly gotten rid of the resurfaced fear, but a twinge of it always remained in the back of my mind, coming out when I was alone. Even after my father had redeemed himself, even after he had died, it still stayed with me. I shuddered and Gray seemed to notice my agitation. He rubbed my shoulders comfortingly.

"But you're okay now, right? I mean, you got m-us. You've got us." Gray reassured me. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"You were about to say 'you've got me', weren't you?" He snorted.

"What are you talking about? I said us."

"You said that after you said 'm'. You were _totally_ going to say 'me'."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Nope."

"... You know, I wouldn't have minded if you'd said that..." I muttered, trailing off and blushing like there was no tomorrow. I heard Gray's neck crack as he whipped his head around to stare at me.

"OW! What!?" He cried out in confusion. I poked my fingers together in embarrassment.

"Y-you... you heard me..."

There was a moment of awkward silence between us, and I could practically feel the waves of heat rolling off of Gray as he took this in.

"So wait... does that mean..." He started, but I stood up.

"I'm cold. I'm going to go home now, see you!" I cheered in a shaky, nervous voice. I was about to take off running, but a hand wrapped around my ankle and I fell on my face.

"Ow!"

"You're not going anywhere until you talk to me!"

"You're not getting an answer then!"

"What did you mean!?"

"Oh look, a shooting star!"

"Lucy!"

"Make a wish, Gray! I'm gonna go over there to make my wish." I struggled against his grip and clawed at his fingers, but he had already come over to me.

"Fine, I'll make a wish. I wish that Lucy would frickin' tell me what she meant!" He replied stubbornly, all the while looking down on me. His hold on me had moved onto my wrist. I gazed up at him. The starlight framed him, making him glow silvery in the moonlight.

"Fine." I consented, and he let go of my wrist. I sat up and looked away.

.

.

.

"Do I really have to?"

"Lucy..."

"I...I..." I looked down.

"I feel safe when I'm around you... Don't get me wrong, I feel safe with Natsu and Erza and everyone else too, but... it's different with you... I... I feel like I could actually... like I could actually... l-l-l-like... y-" I was cut off by a pair of soft, warm lips on mine. My eyes went wide with shock, but I slowly relaxed. I was asking for it. After the times we've hung out like this, I'd begun to noticed that when Gray wanted something, or when he wanted to get a point across, he would make sure that person knew what we meant.

Meaning, Gray was secretly almost as impulsive as Natsu was.

I felt him pull away and I let my eyes open again. Gray was grinning.

"I was waiting for you to say that."

"You didn't let me finish my sentence, how would you know what I was going to say?" Gray tapped his head with his index finger, smirking.

"Sixth sense." I laughed and touched his cheek.

"You're an idiot."

"I know, but I'm a hot idiot, and that's why you love me."

I flushed a bit.

"I never said I _loved _you!"

"But you do."

"How do you know!?"

"I told you, sixth sense!"

"Dumb ass."

He snickered and ruffled my hair again. I slapped his hand away gently.

"Would you stop doing that?"

"Did I get rid of your remaining fear?" I blinked at his sudden change of subject.

"Huh?" He looked me in the eye and murmured,

"Did I get rid of the remaining fear of the dark?" I hesitated, then smiled. I nodded.

"Yeah, Gray..." I leaned against him.

"You did..." I whispered.


End file.
